(This was originally posted on the blog-
on 3/13/10. Here is a link to the original post:
The
collected power in the golden orb hit the gigantic beast killing it
instantly. It began to plummet to the ground through the
trees as The Kind One stood transfixed, seemingly unable to move, and
in danger of being crushed.
She
was pulled out from under the falling monster at the last
moment by a girl with fiery-red hair. Shocked and confused by the
encounter with the ghostly faerie , the Kind One demanded
an explanation. Undaunted by the harsh words from one who’s
life she had just saved, the new comer introduced herself as Ember
Innocenzi.
Satisfied
that Ember was indeed another human, The Kind One invited her new
friend to sit with her and wait for dawn before continuing on the
path through the forest, explaining that there were other, more
dangerous creatures lurking in the dark.
The
Kind One dozed off. When she opened her eyes she found that they were
hanging by their feet in the tops of the trees. The Dryads had pulled
them to safety and were sheltering them from the hordes of Shahinian
below.
~~~~~~~~
Dawn cut through
the upper branches of the forest canopy in streaks of hazy sunlight,
pooling on the ground in bright splashes of yellow where the beams
hit the damp, mossy ground. Funny how the menacing shadows of the
forest at night dissolve in the sparkling light of day. Ember
had only been gone for a few minutes and I missed her
already. Still, the sadness I felt about her departure on the
elegant dragon Illustratia, paled by comparison to the joy I felt
having Arial with me again.
“Arial, where
were you? I knew as soon as the woods had closed in around me that I
had made a terrible mistake. I thought hard, hoping that
you would find me and come to me, but for some reason it didn’t
work. Why?” Arial had chosen to walk with me in her elven form and
looked down on me as she answered.
“An energy
field fell between us when your friend entered the realm. It
disrupted our telepathy and we couldn’t see you in our minds or
hear your thoughts. However we were picking up some very unusual
vibrations through the walls of the palace. It sounded like when you
sit at your writing machine to make words. Click, clicktyclick,
clickty, clickty, clickclickclick, click…like that. The sound was
hollow and far off. Orlaith has not been able to intuit what it was.
Then it just… stopped…it was all very strange.”
I nodded as I
remembered what Ember had told me about being from another realm.
“The two different realms must have collided causing a riff in
reality. Arial, there was a ghostly faerie in a mist that seemed to
have a life all its own, with tendrils that wrapped around
everything. I thought she was sent from you, that’s what she had me
believe anyway.” I shivered as the spectral being took shape
in my memory. “She said that if I came with her she would get me
safely out of the woods.” I clamped my eyes closed, trying to shut
out the cold emptiness of the dark eyes that reached into my very
soul.
I was
immediately surrounded by Sunny, Ferne, and about a dozen other
faeries, their eyes full of sympathy and their wings flapping with
anxiety. Arial placed two fingers on the temples at both sides of my
head and whispered, “shi eir vaeli.” The words, “be at
peace” and the feeling came to me at precisely the same moment and
the shivering subsided. The visions of the beast evaporated from my
mind. “Thanks. I wish I could do that thing you do…what ever it
is.”
Arial smiled.
“You can, you just don’t know how yet. No worries though, you
will learn.” Her smile faded. What you saw was a shape-shifter, one
of the Shahinian. There are many tribes but they all have the
same need, to feel alive by stealing the souls of others. When it
became clear that we couldn’t penetrate the forest canopy we sent
the Trilia in to find you.”
“What is the
Trilia?” Or should I say who.”
She turned to
me, a thoughtful look on her face. Taping her long thin fingers
together she explained. “The Trilia are sub race of the
air-elementals, they would appear to you as small glowing dots. It
would look like a mass of fireflies. If they touch you they can look
into your heart, sense your intentions.”
“Arial! That’s
exactly what happened! I saw these lights coming toward me, they
swarmed all around me, my arm and shoulders. I remember, it made me
warm and it tickled, and I knew that they were good.” I saw the
scene play out again in my mind. “Oh, but Arial, they can do
things…” I was there again, seeing the bright ball of fire blast
into the creature’s leathery chest, hearing it’s angry
screams… falling. I looked up. Arial was bending over me with Sunny
and Ferne on either side.
They were all
smiling. Not exactly what I would suspect after relating my life
threatening adventure. Arial helped me stand up and I brushed the
twigs off of my tattered skirt. “Fine, smile if you have to, but I
was scared.” Then I thought about the Dryads. “Did you send the
Dryads as well?”
Ferne was
hanging, mid-air, just behind Arial. She was all smiles. “In a way.
We still could not find you, we had no idea the Trilia had
accomplished their mission. It wasn’t until this strange little
fellow with owl eyes found Ferne that we knew you were OK
and that you had company. Orlaith figured out the rest. She had
Ferne talk to the Dryads, you know how Ferne loves the trees! They
spread the word through the forest and picked you up just before the
Shahinian got to you.” Ferne whispered in Arial’s ear. ” She
tells me his name is Perhluna. He is a hyper little guy but seriously
devoted to his human. It was Ferne that led him to the shadeberries.”
“The
shadeberries?”
“Yes, these
berries are only found growing by the Castle of Umbra, two valleys
past the elven-wood. Elendain keeps some in her herbal stash, but he
needed to pick some fresh so that your thought transference
would be strong.”
“Well, all I
can say is, thank goodness for Perh. Hey, is the effect of eating
those berries permanent?”
Arial tilted her
head and gave me a searching look. “Try to hear my thoughts. Calm
your mind, focus. Do you hear anything?”
“Give me a
minute! Good grief Arial, a little patience, all I can hear is you
asking questions.” I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and
concentrated. At first all I heard was the wind in the branches, then
slowly I began to hear voices, a lot of voices, they were
whispering to each other, praising the sunshine. Then I heard Arial’s
voice. “Those are the Dryads you hear Kind One. To the Mundane
ear it is just the wind in the trees, but to those with faerie blood,
it is the voices of the spirit leaves.”
“I can hear
you Arial! I can hear you!” I grabbed her by the shoulders and spun
her around. “This is great! I twirled around and around and the
faeries joined in the dance.
Arial stood to
one side and watched with delight, knowing that soon enough I would
have to return to the ivy hedge and more serious matters that waited
on the other side.
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